Foundation

The Pacific Section AAPG Foundation was chartered in 1999 as a 501(c)(3) corporation registered in California.  Its members are all the members of the Pacific Section AAPG.  It has seven trustees including 5 elected trustees and 2 ex-officio trustees who are the President and the senior Treasurer of the Pacific Section AAPG
 
The Pacific Section AAPG was formed for two reasons: to conduct the educational business of the Pacific Section AAPG and to provide a vehicle for donations to our causes by individuals who are unable to or prefer to not to deduct those donations as business expenses.
 
The Foundation is run by its trustees.  It is and must operate independently of the Pacific Section.  The Foundations educational support goals are however closely aligned with those of the Pacific Section AAPG and the largest donor to the Pacific Section AAPG Foundation is the Pacific Section itself.
 
The Pacific Section AAPG Foundations educational initiatives are largely focused on geology in general and more specifically petroleum geology.  The Foundation assists students to attend Pacific Section AAPG and national AAPG conventions, provides support for recipients of the AAPG”s Teacher-of-the-Year award, provides funding for Pacific Section publications and supports the annual Imperial Barrel competion.  In the past, the Pacific Section AAPG Foundation has supported publication of the Dibblee geologic maps and helped purchase keystone fossils for exhibit at the Buena Vista Natural History Museum.
 
Funding for the Foundation comes from direct individual and estate donations, checkoffs on the Pacific Section dues cards, the annual year-end appeal for funding, and the occasional distribution of funds that the Pacific Section AAPG has accumulated in excess of monies required for their operations.  In addition, the Pacific Section, for a number of years, has solicited geologic books for the purpose of selling those books at the Pacific Section AAPG”s conventions to help fund our educational initiatives.